


Akuma Noir

by TaraHarkon



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien angst, Akumatized Main Character, Angst and Feels, F/M, Help, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Identity Reveal, My First Work in This Fandom, this fandom has too many ship names
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-04
Updated: 2016-03-15
Packaged: 2018-05-04 20:08:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5346983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TaraHarkon/pseuds/TaraHarkon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loneliness leads to darkness, conflict and hatred. But love does conquer all, even when you have to fight the one you love.</p>
<p>or</p>
<p>Adrien's life finally gets to be too much for him and then everything goes bad.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Your father asked me to remind you about your trip to Milan this weekend, Adrien.”  
The blond boy sighed a little bit and then nodded. He didn’t want to go to Milan, but a job was a job. He couldn’t back out or he would disappoint his father. Especially not over something   
“I remember, Nathalie.”  
“I’ll have your bags packed for you and the car will be ready.”  
His gaze flicked to the window, to the darkening sky. Would his lady be alright without him while he was gone? He smiled a little at that and quickly hid the expression. Of course she would. Ladybug was always fine, with him or without. Though, he would have to warn her. When he looked up again, he realized that Nathalie had left without a word. Now he could smile.  
“Plagg! Time to go. Ladybug will be waiting for us.”  
His cat-like kwami popped out of his bag, flying in a quick spiral around the room.  
“Took long enough. I don’t suppose I could have a snack before we go?”  
“Camembert when we get back sound good?”  
“Perfect!”  
Adrien grinned then and took a step towards his bedroom window.  
“In that case, time to transform!”

* * *

Ladybug stood on the roof, looking out over the city. Things had been quiet so far today. No akuma, not even any normal crime. She was even starting to look forward to the thought that she might get to sleep tonight. With the math test coming up the next day, she knew she should at least try to get home and get some studying in. She sighed and leaned back against one of the chimneys, looking up at the stars.  
“Enjoying the night, my lady?”  
Her smile grew and she turned.  
“The stars are nice tonight.”  
“Pawsitively purrfect, don’t you think?”  
He dropped to stand next to her and she rolled her eyes at him.  
“Just when I thought your puns couldn’t get worse, you start combining them…”  
“I’m wounded! Cut to the quick!” He swung out to lean in front of her. “You know you love my puns.”  
She shoved him gently back.  
“Come on, silly kitty, we’ve got a patrol to do.”  
And with that, Ladybug was off running across the rooftops. Chat Noir chased after her, reveling in the freedom the night brought with it. He loved this, this feeling like he could fly. There were so many nights that he wished he could just stay like this and never have to be Adrien Agreste ever again. When he caught up to her again, he gave her that trademark grin of his.  
“You know, my lady, we could just go climb the Eiffel Tower and spend a quiet evening gazing at the stars.” When she turned to look at him, he continued. “Or I could just gaze into your eyes. I think that view would be even more beautiful.”  
She groaned.  
“Chat, just stop. Alright?” She stopped running, turning to look at him. “Let’s just get this patrol over with. Maybe go home early and get a full night’s sleep for once.”  
His shoulders slumped and he looked down.  
“If…that’s what you want.” After pause, he murmured. “I’ll…go look this way and then we’ll be done faster. Like you want.”  
He was gone before she could say a word. Ladybug stood there with one hand raised to stop him, trying to figure out what had just happened.

* * *

 

Adrien flopped face first onto his bed and pulled his pillow over his head. He could hear Plagg somewhere on the other side of the room eating the cheese he’d been promised. Rolling to his back, he decided that he would go back out and spend some time alone. He glanced at Plagg for a moment and then grabbed his scarf, resolving himself before he headed out without saying a word to the kwami. It wasn’t all that hard to get out of the mansion, really, even without Chat Noir’s powers. A few minutes later, Adrien was sitting alone on a park bench staring up at the stars. Movement caught his eye off to the side and he looked over, half expecting Plagg to have found him. Instead, he saw a small black butterfly and he went cold inside. He jumped to his feet, trying to run. Adrien was fast, faster than most people with the amount of physical training he had. But he wasn’t fast enough. He only made it a few feet before the akuma dove into his scarf and he tripped and fell, skidding a few feet across the walkway.  
“So you wish to be Chat Noir forever, with no limitations and no one else to disappoint you again. I could give you that, if you only do one thing for me.”  
“I won’t hurt her…I won’t…”  
Adrien pulled himself to his feet, trying to get the scarf off. He had to find Ladybug. He had to… She…She was the only one who could…  
“Such misplaced loyalty.”  
He could feel the thing sapping his will and fought with everything he had. He tried to focus on his lady. He couldn’t turn on her. He wouldn’t. He…he…It was as though Adrien’s mouth was moving without his say so and he was screaming on the inside.  
“You want her Miraculous?”  
“Precisely.”  
_‘No! I won’t hurt her!’_  
His mind practically screamed the words as his traitor mouth spoke.  
“I’ll do it.”


	2. Chapter 2

She was exhausted. Instead of doing the sane thing when her partner had bailed on her and going home to study, Marinette had spent an hour trying to track him down to apologize. Or something. It was pretty obvious she’d hurt him and she hadn’t meant to. That guilt was weighing on her now as she sat in class, that and the exhaustion so bad she felt like her eyes kept going out of focus when she tried to concentrate. Ms Mendeleiev was passing out the test papers and that was when she noticed for the first time that only Nino sat at the desk in front of her. Where was Adrien? It wasn’t like him to miss school on a test day. But, much as she wanted to jump right up and investigate, she couldn’t. First, there was algebra to solve.  
The moment school was over, Marinette found herself walking towards Adrien’s house. Not that she thought they would let her in if he was sick, but at least she might see something that would explain why he hadn’t been in school. The last thing she was expecting was to see was Agent Roger on the steps talking to Nathalie.  
“If we find out anything, we’ll be certain to tell you and Mr. Agreste right away. And if you find anything in his room that could explain where he’s gone, be sure to call me.”  
“I will, and we’re going back through the security footage from last night just in case there was something we overlooked.”  
The police officer nodded and turned to go then. Marinette couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Adrien was…missing?

* * *

 Chat Noir had been lounging on the top of the Eiffel Tower since late the night before, rather enjoying the clear night and the stars. He’d slept through the morning, when he’d normally be in school, and now with school out it was time to hunt. Of course, this would be a lot easier if he had the slightest clue who Ladybug was outside of her transformation but he could probably narrow it down. After all, he did know a few people she would notice if something happened to them. The grin on his face was nothing like normal. It was dark and cruel. Adrien was fighting still, trying to pull as much of himself as he could away from the Akuma controlling him. His body was already taking off over the rooftops of Paris and he hoped against hope that Ladybug would realize something was wrong before he hurt someone. 

* * *

 

Marinette had gotten home and settled in to do her homework, though admittedly far more of her mind was focused on Adrien than on literature. He wasn’t the kind of person who would run away. Had he been kidnapped? Was he hurt? She hugged her book tight against her chest, worry taking over her. Tikki landed on her shoulder about to speak, when there was a sound near the trapdoor, like someone trying to open it. Her eyes shot upwards and Marinette moved quickly, rolling off the bed while Tikki dove for her bag. When the trapdoor opened and Chat Noir dropped in to land on her bed, Marinette found herself conflicted between frustration and concern that he might have figured out her secret.   
“Ch-Chat? What are you doing here? Did you…um…need my help again?”  
He didn’t respond right away, taking a few more steps to close the distance between them. He grabbed her by the arm, a grin crossing his face that wasn’t even remotely right.  
“Ladybug knew you. She’s the one who sent me to protect you, you know.”  
“Wh-what? Chat, what are you doing?”  
“Tell her I have a message for her.” His claws were starting to bite into the flesh of her upper arm and she was fighting against his hold. “I’ll be waiting on the Eiffel Tower tonight after dark. She should meet me there.”  
He didn’t let go of her right away, and when he did he drew his hand back quickly, claws cutting her. And then just as quickly as he’d come, he was gone again back out the trapdoor. Marinette climbed up out onto the roof, heedless of the blood dripping down her arm. Tikki followed just after her.  
“Marinette, wait!”  
But Marinette was focused on something else just then, something light blue and completely out of place on Chat Noir’s outfit.  
“Tikki, he’s wearing Adrien’s scarf. I…I don’t think that was Chat. I think that was Adrien.”  
She touched her fingers to the cuts on her arm and winced. The pieces were falling into place now and she turned to look up at the worried ladybug kwami that hovered nervously nearby.  
“That’s why he’s missing. There must be an akuma controlling him…maybe in the scarf? Tikki, we have to follow him before anyone else gets hurt.”  
Before she could transform, her phone buzzed and she sighed, pulling it out. It was a message from Alya’s blog about an update. Looking up at Tikki, she opened the Ladyblog to see what had happened. It was a text post today, easily skim-able but the further Marinette got into it, the less she liked what she was reading.  
“He went after Alya too. She can’t be too badly hurt if she’s blogging about it, at least. Although…she did livestream her own almost-sacrifice…”  
How could this have happened? Akuma only targeted people who could be manipulated, who felt they had been wronged…or at least, that was what she had seen. How could one possibly get control over Adrien Agreste? Didn’t he have the perfect life? Well, that didn’t matter now. What did matter was tracking him down and cleansing that akuma before things got worse.  
“Transform me, Tikki!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I know I've seen a lot about Chat Blanc as an akumatized form for Chat Noir in the fandom, but I decided to differ here. We know that Hawkmoth can create Copy Cat, so why not let Adrien be Chat Noir? The idea is that it's Adrien's akumatized form not Chat Noir's.


	3. Chapter 3

Ladybug pulled herself into a niche on a rooftop not too far from the bakery and pulled out her communicator. It just kept beeping, nothing on the screen.  
“Come on, Chat…Come on…”  
No response. That got her worrying all over again. She had to find Adrien, figure out if Chat was still angry at her and make sure no one else got hurt in the process. With any luck, Adrien would come after her if she made herself obvious, since he’d apparently wanted to meet. It wouldn’t be too much longer to sunset anyway. Looking up, she tried to see if she could see him on the tower yet. Nothing but silence and the stars. There was nothing else to do then but to go there early and be ready for him. Maybe she would hear from Chat. 

* * *

 Plagg had been trying to find Adrien since the boy had snuck out into the Parisian night. Flying through the city streets, he’d looked for any sign, anything. He had to be somewhere. A flicker of black, of movement, caught his eye and he darted towards it. About to shout, he stopped himself, pulling up short. That was Adrien and it wasn’t. Chat Noir. But how? How could he be Chat…without him. Plagg flew a little closer and Chat Noir looked up at him, a dark grin on his face.  
“Plagg, so you finally found me. Looking for cheese again?”  
“What are you doing?” Plagg was frantic with worry and came as close as he dared. “Adrien, _please._ ”  
Adrien was still in there, still fighting against the commands he was being given. Every so often he would get a moment of lucidity, a moment of his own will winning out. That was the only reason he hadn’t hurt anyone so far. Just a few scratches. Looking up at the kwami with his head tilted to the side and a sick grin plastered on his face, Adrien pushed harder than he’d pushed so far and managed to scream out just a few words.  
“Akuma. Find. Ladybug.” He grunted, dropping to one knee as Hawkmoth tried to pull him back to heel. “GO, PLAGG! WARN HER!”  
Adrien was screaming as Plagg flew off as fast as he could, the pain overtaking his senses.

* * *

 Ladybug sensed the little creature before she saw it, Tikki somehow alerting her to the presence of another kwami. She looked up as he arrived, hovering in front of her. There was no doubt as she looked at the little cat-like creature, that this kwami was Chat’s. He looked upset, shaking and crying. She held her hands out in front of her and he landed.  
“Ladybug, it’s…it’s Chat.”  
It was like a jolt of lightning down her spine,   
“What’s wrong?”  
“Hawkmoth…Chat Noir’s been Akumatized. He’s coming after you, Ladybug.”  
For a moment, she froze, trying to process what he was saying. Then she just smiled.  
“That’s not Chat Noir. That’s a boy from my school-,”  
She was about to say his name when the kwami cut her off.  
“Adrien. He’s Chat Noir and somehow he’s transformed without me. I think it’s the Akuma doing it.”

* * *

 “Did you think you could defy me, Chat Noir? Did I think I would be lenient? You _will_ find Ladybug and you _will_ destroy her. Now go, and get me her Miraculous!”  
Chat Noir was laying on his side on the sidewalk, struggling to breath past the pain. When he pulled himself to his feet again, he knew he would obey. She had hurt him, after all, had abandoned him like everyone else when they were supposed to be partners. Ladybug was nothing to him. Nothing but another obstacle on his path to real freedom. The sun was setting now, he noted and a slow smile crossed his face, a mocking grin that parodied the one he had so often flashed Ladybug. It was time for their little date.


	4. Chapter 4

That was impossible. It had to be impossible. Adrien Agreste couldn’t be Chat Noir. That didn’t make any sense. Ladybug’s mind was reeling as she tried to assimilate what the cat-like kwami was telling her. Little things were dropping into place, details she’d never noticed. Or had never wanted to notice? Noticing would have meant realizing and that would mean giving up the peace and safety of the mask, of not knowing who was behind it. She realized then that she had known all along. Had known when he gave her _that_ smile, or _that_ wink. Every time he had turned those too-bright green eyes on her, she’d known who he was. She turned again, looking up at the Eiffel Tower as the sun set.  
“Come on, we have to go…” She stopped short, not sure whether ‘save’ or ‘stop’ was trying to fit into the gap in her words. “We have to find him.”  
Taking off across the rooftops, she tried to come up with a plan, tried to think of anything her partner wouldn’t see through immediately. But the more she thought about it, the more she realized that he knew her too well for any of her normal tricks to work. It would have to be by ear. Her feet had barely touched the viewing platform when she heard a sound behind her and whirled. There was Chat, his staff in hand and his scarf still around his neck.  
“Adrien…”  
His name was out of her mouth before she could stop herself and his eyes narrowed.

* * *

 

“You know, if I’d known all I had to do to get you to care was give up, maybe I’d have done it a long time ago.”  
She started to take a step towards him, her hands out. Then the end of his staff was coming for her face. She dropped, vaguely aware of the sound of his kwami trying to plead with him as she rolled past him and came up behind him.  
“I don’t want to fight you. Listen to Plagg. Please?”  
“Don’t want to fight? That’s too bad.”  
He was already turning, already in the air. She was pinned to the platform before she had even had a moment to think. His claws dug into her arms for the second time that day.

* * *

 

_“Take her miraculous! Do it now, Chat Noir!”_  
The voice of Hawkmoth screamed in his mind, but not as loudly as the real Adrien deep within his mind. And he could hear another voice cutting through the darkness.  
“Come on, Adrien, you can do it. I know you can. You beat him once. It’s as easy as having a bite of cheese, you just gotta try.”  
Plagg. After everything. Plagg was still counting on him, still believed in him. Adrien tried so hard, tried to listen to Plagg, to Ladybug, to himself. But his body was moving without his say-so. He knew perfectly well where her Miraculous was, even without Hawkmoth screaming it into his mind. His attention snapped back to Ladybug when she stopped struggling against him.

* * *

 

It was the only possible plan. And she hoped against hope it would work. Tikki was screaming in her mind. This was dangerous, reckless, suicide, but Marinette was sure it would work. She locked eyes with Chat Noir and let her transformation fade.  
“M-Marinette?”  
He froze and she took her chance, slamming her knee up into his groin. He grunted and released his tight grip on her arms. She was on her feet and running as quickly as she could scramble up.  
“That was stupid, Marinette.” Chat’s voice was cold. “Now I know exactly where to find you, exactly who to go after to hurt you.”  
“I won’t give you that chance.” She got one of the girders to her back and looked up at her kwami. “Tikki? Transform me.”  
In a flash, once again she was Ladybug. And she had to get that scarf.


	5. Chapter 5

Chat Noir was hot on her heels and he was faster than she was. That didn’t give Ladybug terribly many options, but her mind was racing in the way that only she could manage. Dropping off the side of the tower, she flung her yo-yo. It hooked around one of the cross-beams on a lower level and she swung down, knowing that he would follow. But it gave her just a moment’s pause. That was all she needed. As always when she was facing an Akuma, she flung her yo-yo to the sky and shouted the words.  
“Lucky Charm!”  
A length of red rope with the customary black spots appeared and dropped into her hands. The question now was, what was she going to do with it. He would expect her to stop and think, to have a plan. So she came up with the only plan that could work: no plan at all. He landed behind her, nearly silent. Whirling about, she dropped to slid under him, managing to get the rope twisted around his ankle.  
“Cataclysm!”  
Chat’s hand was glowing as he moved towards her, a sick grin on his face. But he hadn’t noticed the rope yet. She tugged on it and he fell, slamming into the ground. She had to move fast then, grabbing his arm and pressing his hand against the scarf before he could touch her. Immediately, the little purple butterfly took the air and she pulled out her yoyo to catch it. She had to purify it. Just as she caught it, Chat rolled quickly, knocking her off her feet. She was falling through the open air when Adrien came out of it.  


* * *

Ladybug was falling away from him. He didn’t know where Plagg was, didn’t know why he was on top of the Eiffel Tower, didn’t know why Ladybug wasn’t doing something to catch her fall. Until he moved to get up and realized there was spotted rope around his ankle. Had…had he been akumatized? He’d fought against his lady? The memories weren’t supposed to come back. They were never supposed to come back. So why were they? He’d hurt people. He’d had blood on his claws.

“Adrien!”  
The little black kwami slammed into him, almost clinging to him.  
“Plagg! We have to go! Ladybug needs-“  
A blur of red and black shot up past him and Adrien relaxed. She was okay.She landed lightly on the beam next to him and knelt down beside him. Picking up the rope, she flung it into the sky to fix the damage that had been done. Then she looked at her partner, holding her hand out to him.  
“Come on, we need to get out of here before my transformation ends. Are…are you alright, Adrien?”  
He nodded silently, feeling a blush on his cheeks.  
“W-we? I…Ladybug…I…I’m sor-“  
She cut him off with a finger on his lips.  
“It was the akuma. Not you. And yes, we. We need to talk. I…I sort of…Well.” She paused, uncertain. Then she heard the more insistent beeping of her miraculous. “I’m sorry about yesterday, Chat. Now let’s go.”  
His mouth dropped open. She knew. Then he remembered something more, his head pounding.  
“Marinette?”  
She gave him a little smile and swung off on her yo-yo towards one of the roofs they liked to meet up on.  
“Plagg?”  
The little kwami looked up at Adrien with a smile.  
“Ready when you are, kid.”  
“Transform me, Plagg!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure if I want to write more beyond here or leave it as is. I really can't decide. Do you guys have a preference?


End file.
